RICEBOY SLEEPS
FESTIVAL, THEATRICAL, AWARDS & BROADCAST CAMPAIGN PUBLICITY
We have been honoured to work alongside Anthony Shim and his producing team since his first feature debut in 2019. In 2021, we partnered with Anthony and Game Theory Films to support his sophomore feature film Riceboy Sleeps. We were involved in this project from script stage, to start of production, into its festival, awards and theatrical launches. For its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2022 we were there with the team and secured interviews with outlets including The Globe and Mail, Canadian Press, ET Canada, etalk and The Hollywood Reporter. We were with the team throughout Riceboy Sleeps’ extensive international festival run, as the film earned many esteemed awards and accolades, in the lead-up and duration of the theatrical release in 2023 and much more. The film won countless awards for cast and the team including a Canadian Screen Award for Anthony, the TFCA Best Canadian Film award and the prestigious TIFF Platform Prize.
In 2021, we announced that production was underway on Riceboy Sleeps and secured coverage in Deadline, Playback, The Hollywood Reporter and many other highly respected outlets. We were there with the Riceboy Sleeps team at TIFF 2022 coordinating an exciting line-up of interviews including outlets such as The Social, CP24 Breakfast, The Hollywood Reporter, CBC and many more. Nuanced reviews were published by Original Cin, That Shelf, Screen Daily, The Film Stage and many others. During TIFF 2022, Riceboy Sleeps was long listed for the 2022 Jean-Marc Vallée DGC Discovery Award. The film took home the Platform Prize at TIFF in 2022 earning a wave of media recognition including coverage in Indiewire, Screen Daily, Awards Daily and many others. Barry Hertz included the film in his “The 10 Best Canadian Films of 2022” story in The Globe and Mail.
“A familiar immigrant song sung in such an elegant, sincere voice that it feels like a whole new arrangement.”
- Jessica Kiang, VARIETY
RICEBOY SLEEPS Poster - designed by Jessamine Fok
Dohyun Noel Hwang and Choi Seung-yoon in RICEBOY SLEEPS
Following its world premiere at TIFF 2022, Riceboy Sleeps continued to wow audiences and took home the Best Canadian Film Award and Northern Lights Audience Award at the Vancouver International Film Festival. It received accolades globally including the Flash Forward Audience Award at Busan International Film Festival, Outstanding Canadian Feature Film at Cinéfest, WIFF Prize in Canadian Film, Best Canadian Feature Film & Outstanding Performer at the Reel Asian Toronto International Film Festival, Best Narrative Feature Award & Audience Award at San Diego Asian Film Festival and the Youth Cineaste Award at the Palm Springs International Film Festival.
On March 17, 2023, Riceboy Sleeps premiered for a limited release in theatres across Canada to rave reviews. One of the most anticipated film releases of 2023, Riceboy Sleeps won the Toronto Film Critics Association’s Rogers Best Canadian Film Award and Anthony Shim took home a Canadian Screen Award for Best Original Screenplay. The theatrical release and awards ignited another wave of media recognition in the Vancouver Sun, the Vancouver Star, ET Canada, CBC Q, and Vogue Singapore, among others.
It’s been thrilling to be there throughout the astounding journey of Riceboy Sleeps and to support the incredibly talented team behind this moving story. We’ve coordinated countless interviews, placed global exclusives and been on-the-ground for many of the premieres as well as the Canadian Screen Awards. We are so pleased to see this journey unfold as it continues to reach new audiences in far-reaching corners of the globe. We can’t wait to see what this trailblazing team does next!
Synopsis
Riceboy Sleeps follows a South Korean mother and son as they struggle with their new life in 1990s Canada. The film stars Ethan Hwang (The Umbrella Academy), Anthony Shim (Zoe) and newcomers Dohyun Noel Hwang and Choi Seung-yoon. Choi Seung-yoon has been praised for her breakout performance as So-young, she was selected as a TIFF Rising Star, Share Her Journey Fellow and won Best Actress at the Marrakech International Film Festival.
Riceboy Sleeps was filmed in Vancouver and South Korea, is distributed by Game Theory Films in Canada and Sphere Films International is handling international sales. The film is produced by Lonesome Heroes Productions, Kind Stranger Productions, A Lasting Dose Productions and features the talents of director of photography Christopher Lew who shot on 16mm, composer Andrew Yong Hoon Lee and production designer Louisa Birkin. Producers are Rebecca Steele , Bryan Demore, Anthony Shim, Co-Producer is Andrea Agur, and Executive Producers are Giuliana Bertuzzi, Matt Kerr and Charlie Kerr.